Most Favoured

Lauren Lyle is a two-time BAFTA Scotland award winning actress, who’s experience spans film, television, and stage. Next up for Lauren is BBC Scotland/Sky New Zealand psychological drama The Ridge which will be released in October. Shot on location in New Zealand, Lauren takes the lead role of addict Mia who is fleeing addiction and leaving a professional life in tatters; she accepts a wedding invitation from her estranged sister in New Zealand – only to find the would-be bride dead upon arrival. 

Lauren most recently reprised her role of the titular character in the second season of ITV’s critically acclaimed Karen Pirie based on the Inspector Karen Pirie novels by Val McDermid which follows a young detective-sergeant who is put in charge of solving a forty-year-old cold case, the kidnapping of an Oil Heiress’s son. Previously, in 2023, Lauren received two BAFTA Scotland awards, Best Actress in Television and the Audience Award for favorite Scot on Screen for her performance in season one of the show.

2025 has been a busy year as Lauren starred in the television drama series The Bombing of Pan Am 103, a BBC and Netflix (US) co-production. The series, also starring Connor Swindells and Peter Mullan, follows Britain’s worst terrorist attack in 1988 and aired earlier this year in May. Additionally, Lauren could be seen alongside Jodie Whittaker and Aimee Lou Wood in the Netflix series Toxic Town playing Dani Holliday. The four-part limited series tells the real-life Corby Toxic Waste Case story that dominated headlines in the UK. The series received rave reviews when it released in February of this year.

Last year, Lauren appeared in the critically acclaimed film, The Outrun, which premiered as part of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival lineup and was followed by a screening at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film – starring Saoirse Ronan, Paapa Essiedu and Stephen Dillane – was nominated in nine categories at BIFA, including ‘Best British Independent Film’.

Lauren is a series regular and fan favourite, playing Marsali MacKimmie Fraser in the BAFTA winning, Golden Globe and Emmy nominated series Outlander alongside Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan. Outlander is a historical drama television series based on the Outlander novel series by Diana Gabaldon. The series follows Claire Randall, a married combat nurse from 1945 who is transported back in time to 1743, where she is immediately thrown into an unknown world in which her life is threatened. In 2021, Lyle also appeared in the BBC crime TV drama Vigil as Jade Antoniak, which is set on a ballistic missile submarine. Other television credits include Broken and Holby City.

In 2018, audiences saw Lauren star in the film adaptation of Fiona Shaw’s novel Tell It to the Bees, opposite Anna Paquin and Holliday Grainger, and Lily Rose Thomas’ debut short film Girls Who Drink. Other film credits include Something in the Water and Mercy Falls.

Lauren made her theatre debut in 2014 starring in the critically acclaimed production of The Crucible at the Old Vic Theatre. Her stage work includes several productions with the national Youth Theatre’s rep program in 2015, performing in three plays during the season, Wuthering Heights, Consensual and Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.

Born in Ashford, Kent, Alexander Arnold is best known for his roles in E4’s BAFTA-winning series Skins and Danny Boyle’s Beatles-themed musical comedy Yesterday, with further notable performances in acclaimed series such as BBC’s ‘Poldark,’ and Sky Atlantic’s ‘Save Me’.

Most recently, Alex played the lead role in Delivery Run, as a food delivery driver caught in a deadly chase across the icy backroads of rural Minnesota. He’ll be appearing in David Mackenzie’s new crime heist thriller Fuze later next year.

Arnold made his West End debut in David Mamet’s Bitter Whea’ at the Garrick Theatre. His other theatre credits include both Four Minutes Twelve Seconds, and Luna Gale at the Hampstead Theatre, Crushed Shells and Mud (Southwark Playhouse), Shopping and F***ing (Lyric Hammersmith). 

As well as acting, Arnold has expanded into writing and directing. His first narrative short film 11+ was shown at the San Diego Short Film Festival and had its UK premiere at the London Independent Film Festival.

David was born in Belfast and trained as an actor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

His first play, What the Animals Say, was produced at Oran Mor, Glasgow, in 2011. He was Playwright-in-Residence at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast in 2012. He went on to win the Meyer Whitworth Award in 2012 for his second play, Everything Between Us, produced by Tinderbox Theatre Company in Belfast. In 2016, Cyprus Avenue, featuring Stephen Rea, opened at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, before transferring to the Royal Court, London and then on to the Public Theatre, New York.  It won the Irish Times Award for Best New Play and the James Tait Black Award in 2017. In 2018, Ulster American was produced at the Traverse Theatre as part of the Edinburgh Fringe. It won a Scotsman Fringe First and the Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland for Best New Play. Ulster American was revived by Second Half Productions at the Riverside Studios, London in 2023, featuring Woody Harrelson, Andy Serkis and Louisa Harland. In 2024, The Fifth Step was produced by National Theatre of Scotland for a short run before transferring to @sohoplace, starring Martin Freeman and Jack Lowden, produced by Playful Productions and Neal Street. His other plays include Not Now (Oran Mor & Finborough Theatre), Sadie (Lyric, Belfast) Yes So I Said Yes (Ransom Productions, Belfast & Finborough Theatre), The End of Hope (Oran Mor & Soho Theatre) and Can’t Forget About You (Lyric, Belfast). His first TV series, The Lovers, was broadcast on Sky Atlantic in 2023. His latest TV series, Cold Water, featuring Andrew Lincoln, was broadcast on ITV in September 2025

As an actor, he is best known for playing Clare’s Dad in Derry Girls.

Max Elton is a director, dramaturg and writer. He is currently Associate Director (Literary) at Soho Theatre. His production of Not Now by David Ireland (Finborough Theatre, Lyric Belfast) was listed as #6 in The Observer’s Plays of 2022, and he was nominated for Broadway World’s Director of the Year for the same production. Other previous full productions include Yes So I Said Yes and The Melting Pot (Finborough Theatre), The End of Hope (Orange Tree/Soho Theatre), which was nominated for Best New Play at the Off West End Awards and Big Brother Blitzkrieg (King’s Head Theatre), which he also wrote. Associate work includes Sheppey (Orange Tree) and Madame Rubinstein (Park Theatre). In 2023, Max was invited to take part in the National Theatre’s Directors’ Course.